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THIRTEEN

Kaely was silent as the chief drove them to the crime scene. She’d made the comment about death following her in a cavalier manner, not expecting Erin to take it seriously. But there could be some truth in it. Although she’d come here for her friend, she felt the need to disconnect as well. She needed some time to stop thinking about having a baby. She’d planned to do that by concentrating on Erin. Helping someone else was the best way to get your mind off yourself. But now, here she was again. Dead bodies. A serial killer. She knew that there were a lot more serial killers in the world than people realized. The truth was, most of them never made the news. Some killers knew how to cover their tracks. And a lot of deaths were attributed to something else. Accidents. Undetermined deaths. However, one of the traits that led to capture was a psychopath’s desire for fame. Then, there were the killers who murdered for the single desire to take a life. They were the most dangerous. Even trained behavioral analysts like Kaely couldn’t contribute to their capture. At least this guy was taunting them. Daring them to catch him. That would make it easier to apprehend him.

She’d told Erin that, in some ways, she’d missed this. That was true as well. She’d said perhaps God led her to situations where her help was needed. Erin might not be a Christian, but sometimes God could speak through others. She fought back a smile as the thought even donkeys popped into her mind. Not sure Erin would want to be compared to Baalam’s donkey. Or Baalam for that matter.

“Hold on,” the chief said. “The road is pretty rough here.”

Kaely, who was sitting in the backseat, clutched the grab handle. Noah liked to call it the chicken handle. Sure enough, the car began to bounce. It was obvious the chief was trying to keep the car as steady as possible, but the road here was dirt and full of holes. Kaely loved the Smoky Mountains, but a lot of the area was rather wild. That was the part she adored the most. If she had her way, she and Noah would retire here someday. For now, they were happy in Virginia. Even though they lived in a more suburban-type neighborhood, they didn’t have to drive far to find forests and gorgeous scenery. It wasn’t that Kaely was unhappy with the life they had. She just wanted something different someday. Far away from the FBI and Noah’s job. She knew how the job could drain you. Change you. She could see the haunted look in his eyes during particularly tough cases. But he felt strongly he was where he was supposed to be. And now, here she was. Was she doing what she was called to do too? Was God telling her she would never be a mother? That this was what He had for her? If so, why did her heart cry out to hold a child? Sometimes in church, watching a mother cradle a baby overwhelmed her emotions so strongly she couldn’t stop the tears that spilled unbidden from her eyes.

“Here we are,” the chief said suddenly, the wild ride coming to an end. Two police cars and a dark blue truck were parked nearby. “We’ll need to walk the rest of the way.”

He got out, and they followed him through the woods until they finally reached a clearing. Yellow crime-scene tape protected a rather wide area. Kaely looked around to see if there was another area roped off. Sure enough, about twenty yards away there was another area framed with the same yellow tape—the place where they found the woman this morning. She glanced at Erin. She seemed calm, engaged, interested. She would have made a great analyst. Kaely wondered if she’d actually been diagnosed with PTSD. If so, that would complicate her ability to join the BAU. For now, the best thing for Erin was to take time healing. She had a lot to overcome. The death of the young girl accidentally killed by Erin’s wayward bullet. Watching her partner die. Not only her partner, but a man she’d loved—until he cheated on her. Their relationship was tense, and Erin had been nursing a broken heart. She’d admitted to Kaely that she’d been unkind. Refused to forgive him—even requested a new partner. Now, she not only had to deal with his loss, but she was left to wonder if she should have given him another chance. He’d died after she’d rejected his pleas for forgiveness. It had taken Erin a long time to share this part of her story. She was carrying a lot of guilt. The kind that can crush the spirit.

Kaely noticed an older man kneeling on the ground. She was startled to see that the three covered objects next to him were concealed under plastic tarps. They should have been covered by sterile body sheets. It could be worse. Plastic tarps generally wouldn’t carry as many hairs and fibers as cloth sheets. And with bodies this old, holding them together was important. The stronger plastic tarp would do a good job of not only covering them but also being placed underneath so that the bodies could be successfully moved from this spot.

The man stood up and looked at the chief. Then he nodded at Erin. She’d mentioned that the local doctor acting as the ME hadn’t been very friendly at their last encounter. Kaely noticed that the doctor’s resistance to Erin—and to her—was muted. He’d probably realized he was in over his head with this kind of crime scene.

“Are you ready to look at these bodies?” the chief asked.

“Certainly, if your ME doesn’t object,” Kaely said loudly enough for the older man to hear. A little honey to soothe the ego.

She watched as the man squared his shoulders, some of his dignity restored. “Not at all,” he said, waving his hand toward the covered corpses.

The chief held up the crime-scene tape, and Erin and Kaely stepped inside the boundaries. In another setting, it would have been important to cover their shoes with booties, but these deaths happened so long ago, there was very little chance any evidence remained on the ground surrounding the burial site.

The man held out his hand when Kaely approached. “Dr. Gibson,” he said.

Kaely shook his hand. “Nice to meet you, Doctor. I’m Kaely Hunter. Thank you for allowing me into your crime scene. I used to work for the FBI and would like to write a profile for the chief. Anything you’ve observed would help me immensely.”

Erin glanced sideways at her, the sides of Erin’s mouth twitching slightly. Kaely wasn’t trying to be disingenuous. She didn’t know Gibson and felt she owed him respect for the position he held. However, Kaely suspected Erin thought she was just trying to handle the doctor.

Gibson slowly pulled back the first tarp. This must be the body the chief thought could be over a year old. The problem was, to determine TOD a lot of things came into play. Temperatures in the area, the makeup of the soil, along with animal and insect activity. Still, she felt the chief was pretty close in his estimation.

“It’s female,” the doctor said. “She was buried in some kinda garment, although it’s degraded quite a bit. There are shoes and she’s wearin’ a necklace. Can’t quite tell what it really looks like. Once I get her back to the office, I can clean that up. Other than that, there’s not much I can tell you.”

“Her right leg was broken at some point,” Erin said. “I can see where the bone knit together.”

“Yeah, I noticed that,” Gibson said, his voice low. Obviously, he was still a little irritated with Erin. “That’s a detail the chief will get once I finish my autopsy.”

“Do you mind if I take some pictures?” Kaely asked. She nudged Erin in an attempt to encourage her to wait on any other comments for now. They’d go over the photos when they got back to the cabin. Erin looked at her and nodded slightly. She understood.

“Nah, you go ahead,” Gibson said.

“Why don’t I take the pictures while you look at the other bodies,” Erin offered.

“Thanks. Good idea,” Kaely replied. Maybe Gibson would relax a bit if Erin wasn’t with them.

Gibson led the way to the next tarp. This body had more flesh left. It was pretty disturbing, but Kaely had seen worse. She hoped it wouldn’t upset Erin and wondered if she should take the pictures herself. She looked it over while Gibson told her what he’d seen. He was actually pretty good at pointing out what was important.

“The rib has been nicked here,” he said, pointing toward the ribcage.

“You’re right,” Kaely said. “I didn’t notice that on the other body.”

Gibson nodded. “People don’t realize that most killers who stab their victims miss the heart unless they know what they’re doin’. Missin’ the ribs isn’t easy.”

Surprised, Kaely looked up at him. “You’re absolutely right. I see that all the time in TV shows and movies. And the other thing is...”

“Bright red blood after several hours?” Gibson interjected.

“Exactly. Drives me up the wall.”

“Me too. I suspect Ms. Delaney got her facts right because she had you to help her.”

Erin had told her that the doctor didn’t seem to know who she was. Obviously, that was wrong. He’d read her book.

“Well, she also used to be a police officer, you know,” Kaely said, “and as far as the rest of it, she was a quick learner.” She smiled at him. “The chief is very fortunate to have someone like you here.”

If Gibson was a rooster, he probably would have puffed his chest out and crowed. “I’m grateful you’re around to help,” he said. He pointed toward a tall man with glasses and dark blond hair talking to a police officer a few yards away.

“That’s Detective Johnson. He’s got a lot of training in forensics. To be honest, with you two here, me, and the detective, I think we can handle this thing.” He pointed toward the last corpse. “You ready to look at the next one?”

She nodded. As she followed the doctor toward the last blue tarp, she felt a chill. It really was getting colder. She couldn’t help but shiver.

“We gotta snowstorm headed our way tomorrow night,” the doctor said, noticing her discomfort. “The temps are dropping fast. That doesn’t bode well.”

“It’s only November,” Kaely said. “Isn’t that a little early for this area?”

“Not really,” he replied. “But this one may be a doozy. Worse than we’ve had for a while.”

Kaely thought back to the last time she’d had to deal with a snowstorm and a serial killer. She really wasn’t looking forward to reliving that.

She stopped when they reached the last body. The doctor pulled back the tarp, and Kaely gasped. The girl couldn’t have died more than three months ago. She would have been considered well preserved if it weren’t for the viciousness of the attack she’d endured. Instinct told her that the killer hadn’t been happy with his results and had taken it out on this poor woman. They were dealing with someone who was cold, calculated, organized... and full of the kind of rage that wouldn’t be contained.

She waited for Erin, who turned white as a sheet when she approached the last body. Kaely reached out to grab her arm when she noticed that she swayed a little. Erin pulled her arm away, took the pictures, and then hurried back to where the chief had parked the Jeep. Kaely followed behind her. She was clearly upset, and Kaely was worried. Maybe this was too much for Erin right now. It was then that she noticed the tall man, the one Gibson had said was the forensic specialist, watching them out of the corner of his eye. He smiled at her, and she returned his smile, but not before she noticed that his right hand was bandaged. Although she could be wrong, it almost seemed as if he tried to hide it from her.